Systems and methods for resolving recording conflicts

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for determining whether a media asset intended to be recorded is actually transmitted at the time and on the source of a scheduled higher-priority recording. Should the intended media asset not be transmitted in a desirable way, or not transmitted at all, the system will instead make a recording of a lower-priority recording that would not have been made because of a conflict. The systems and methods described herein, before making a higher-priority recording, obtain a sample of the media asset included in a received transmission at a scheduled time and compare it to content associated with the media asset scheduled for recording to determine whether to record the received transmission.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a United States National Phase Application filedunder 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No.PCT/US2018/052935, filed on Sep. 26, 2018 which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure is directed to systems and methods for resolvingrecording conflicts, and more particularly, to systems and methods forresolving recording conflicts when there are real-time changes tocontent scheduled for recording.

SUMMARY

Media systems typically have recording devices, such as digital videorecorders (DVR) for example, and users often desire recording multiplemedia assets simultaneously. When the number of desired recordingsexceeds the capacities of the recording equipment (e.g., the number oftuners), a recording conflict may result. Recording priorities are oftenused to ensure in such circumstances that one recording—the recordingwith the highest priority—is made in lieu of the recording with a lowerpriority. But should the media asset scheduled for the time and source(e.g., channel) of the higher-priority recording change last-minute,such systems will record whatever media asset was actually transmittedat the time on the source.

Accordingly, to overcome these problems, systems and methods aredisclosed herein for determining whether the desired media asset istransmitted at the time and on the source of a scheduled higher-priorityrecording. Should the desired media asset be transmitted in anundesirable way (e.g., be cut off), or not transmitted at all, thesystem will instead make a lower-priority recording that would otherwisenot have been made because of a conflict.

The systems and methods described herein, before making ahigher-priority recording, obtain a sample of the media asset includedin a received transmission and compare it to content associated with themedia of the scheduled higher-priority recording. If the sample from thereceived transmission does not match content associated with thehigher-priority recording, a recording manager makes a lower-priorityrecording instead of recording the received transmission. When thesample from the received transmission matches content associated withthe higher-priority recording, the recording manager records thereceived transmission. Therefore, the methods and systems disclosedherein resolve a recording conflict in a way that ensures an actuallydesired media asset is recorded.

The sample taken from the received transmission may be, for example, aclosed caption component, an audio component, and/or a video component.The recording manager may extract phrases from the closed captioncomponent sample and compare the phrases to phrases associated with thehigher-priority asset to determine whether the sample from the receivedtransmission matches content associated with the higher-priority asset.For audio samples, the recording manager captures audio clips from theaudio component sample and compares them to audio clips associated withthe higher-priority asset to determine whether the audio clips match.Finally, the recording manager may extract video frames from the videocomponent sample and compare them to video frames associated with thehigher-priority asset to determine whether the sample from the receivedtransmission matches content associated with the higher-priority asset.

The recording manager may retrieve the content associated with thehigher-priority asset from the metadata (e.g., program descriptionsincluded in media guide data) for the higher-priority asset. Forexample, the recording manager may retrieve phrases associated with thehigher-priority asset from the program listing information included inthe media guide data. Similarly, the recording manager may retrievevideo frames associated with the higher-priority asset from a previewimage included in the media guide data.

In some embodiments, the recording manager, to improve the reliabilityof the comparison results, searches for additional media assetsassociated with the higher-priority asset. For example, the recordingmanager may determine, using metadata for the higher-priority asset,that the higher-priority asset is part of a series and identifyadditional media assets belonging to the series. The recording managerretrieves, for example, phrases associated with the higher-priorityasset from the additional media assets belonging to the series andcompares the retrieved phrases to the sample of the receivedtransmission.

In some embodiments, the systems and methods described herein, beforemaking a higher-priority recording, obtain a sample of the media assetincluded in a received transmission and compare it to a predeterminedset of keywords indicative of a delay or cancellation of the scheduledrecording. The recording manager extracts phrases from the sample andcompares them to the predetermined set of keywords indicative of a delayor cancellation of the scheduled recording. If the extracted phrasesmatch the predetermined set of keywords, the recording manager recordsthe lower-priority asset that would otherwise not have been recorded.When the sample of the media asset included in the received transmissiondoes not match the predetermined set of keywords indicative of a delayor cancellation of the scheduled recording, the recording managerrecords the received transmission. Therefore, the methods and systemsdisclosed herein resolve a recording conflict in a way that ensures anactually desired media asset is recorded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a scenario of resolvingrecording conflicts when there are real-time changes to the schedulingof linear media content, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative equipment device having arecording manager implemented thereon, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an illustrative media system in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show illustrative examples of a user interface designthat may be presented in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for resolvingrecording conflicts when there are real-time changes to the schedulingof linear media content, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for resolving recordingconflicts based on recording priority, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for retrieving contentassociated with the higher-priority asset from an additional mediaasset, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for obtaining a closedcaption sample from the received transmission, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 9A and 9B show illustrative examples of a data structure forcomparing the closed caption sample to content associated with the mediaasset scheduled for recording, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for obtaining an audiosample from the received transmission, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a graphical representation of a comparison of audio clips, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for obtaining a videosample from the received transmission, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 13A and 13B show illustrative examples of a data structure forcomparing the video sample to content associated with the media assetscheduled for recording, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for obtaining a sampleof a media asset included in a received transmission, in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of another illustrative process for resolvingrecording conflicts when there are real-time changes to the schedulingof linear media content, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 16 is an illustrative example of a data structure for comparingphrases from a sample of the received transmission to keywordsindicative of delay or cancellation, in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a scenario of resolvingrecording conflicts when there are real-time changes to the schedulingof linear media content, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. Consider scenario 100, in which a media system comprisingrecording device 101, such as a digital video recorder (DVR) having asingle tuner, receives a higher-priority recording request 102 (e.g., torecord a U.S. Open match) and a lower-priority recording request 103(e.g., to record a football game) with both media assets scheduled to bebroadcast at the same time. It should be noted that higher-priorityrecording request 102 and lower-priority recording request 103 may bereceived together or separately at any time before broadcast time 104.The media system includes a user interface (e.g., generated for displayat monitor 106), and a user sends the requests to record multiple mediaassets scheduled to be broadcast simultaneously from different sources(e.g., channels). In some embodiments, the user also indicates arecording priority corresponding to the different media assets scheduledfor recording.

At broadcast time 104, control circuitry 204 (discussed in greaterdetail below in connection with FIG. 2), such as the one implemented onrecording device 101, receives a transmission from a source for thescheduled higher-priority recording 102. The recording managerdetermines whether the intended media asset is actually what istransmitted. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the recordingmanager determines whether the U.S. Open match desired to be recorded isactually transmitted at broadcast time 104. Should the desired mediaasset be transmitted in an undesirable way (e.g., be cut off), or nottransmitted at all, the system will instead make a recording of alower-priority asset that would not have been made because of aconflict. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the U.S. Open matchscheduled to be recorded at broadcast time 104 may be delayed orcanceled right before broadcast time 104 (e.g., due to rain) without theprogram information being updated. The control circuitry 204,implemented on recording device 101, records the football game (i.e.,the lower-priority asset) that would not have otherwise been recordedbecause of the conflict.

Specifically, the recording manager may retrieve content associated withthe higher-priority asset from the metadata (e.g., program descriptionincluded in the program listing on a media guide) for thehigher-priority asset. For example, the recording manager may retrievephrases associated with U.S. Open from the program listing informationincluded in the program listing (e.g., program information provided byESPN). In some embodiments, the recording manager, to improve thereliability of the comparison, may identify additional contentassociated with the higher-priority asset to perform the comparisonsdiscussed above (discussed in greater detail below with reference toFIG. 7). For example, the recording manager may store, in a database ofrecording device 101, additional media assets that were transmittedbefore broadcast time 104 and their associated metadata. The recordingmanager may categorize the stored additional media assets based on theirassociated metadata (e.g., genre such as tennis, football, hockey,etc.). The recording manager, using metadata for the higher-priorityasset, identifies additional media assets having metadata related to themetadata for the higher-priority asset from the database. For example,the recording manager, upon receiving higher-priority recording request102, and based on metadata for the U.S. Open match, identifies othertennis matches (i.e., previously stored additional media assets) storedin the database of recording device 101 having metadata (i.e., theirrespective program information) related to the metadata for thehigher-priority U.S. Open match.

In some embodiments, the recording manager may begin storing additionalmedia assets having metadata related to the metadata for thehigher-priority asset after receiving the request to record thehigher-priority asset but before receiving the first transmission. Forexample, recording device 101 may, in response to receiving a request torecord the 2018 U.S. Open match, store additional media assets havingmetadata related to the 2018 U.S. Open match (e.g., additionalbroadcasts of media assets associated with the genre tennis) prior tobroadcast time 104. In some embodiments, the recording manager may storesamples of the additional media assets having metadata related to themetadata for the higher-priority asset.

The recording manager may retrieve phrases associated with thehigher-priority asset from additional media assets having metadatarelated to the metadata for the higher-priority asset. For example, therecording manager, upon identifying other tennis matches having metadatarelated to the metadata for the higher-priority U.S. Open match,retrieves phrases from the other tennis matches as the contentassociated with the higher-priority U.S. Open Tennis match. Therecording manager may also retrieve audio clips and video framesassociated with the higher-priority asset from additional media assetshaving metadata related to the metadata for the higher-priority asset.For example, the recording manager, upon identifying other tennismatches having metadata related to the metadata for the higher-priorityU.S. Open match, retrieves audio clips and video frames from othertennis matches as the content associated with the higher-priority U.S.Open Tennis match. In some embodiments, the recording manager mayretrieve content associated with the higher-priority asset from externalsources such as scraping messages on social media websites discussingthe higher-priority asset.

The recording manager obtains a sample of the received transmission andcompares the sample to content associated with the higher-priorityasset. For example, recording device 101, obtains a sample of thereceived transmission at broadcast time 104 and compares it toadditional tennis matches (i.e., content related to the U.S. Open matchintended to be recorded). When the sample of the received transmissiondoes not match content associated with the first media asset, therecording manager records a second media asset having a lower recordingpriority instead of the received transmission. For example, when thesample of the received transmission at broadcast time 104 does not matchthe additional tennis matches, the recording manager records thefootball match (i.e., lower recording priority 103), which would nothave been recorded otherwise. Therefore, the recording manager, as shownin FIG. 1, resolves a recording conflict in a way that ensures anactually desired media asset is recorded.

As referred to herein, the term “match” should be understood to meanthat the two entities being compared (i.e., sample of the receivedtransmission and content associated with the higher-priority asset) arethe same and/or exceed a threshold level of similarity. For example, aphrase from the received transmission is considered to match a retrievedphrase from the content associated with the higher-priority when the twophrases have a greater than 60% overlap. A person possessing ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that any number of threshold values maybe set based on predefined preferences and be specific to the type ofsample being compared. For example, two audio clips may be considered tomatch when they are more than 50% similar, but two video frames may beconsidered to match only when they are more than 75% similar.

FIG. 2 shows a generalized embodiment of an illustrative equipmentdevice 200 (e.g., recording device 101). More specific implementationsof equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 3.Equipment device 200 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 202. I/O path 202 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 204, which includesprocessing circuitry 206 and storage 208. Control circuitry 204 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 202. I/O path 202 may connect control circuitry 204 (andspecifically processing circuitry 206) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths but are shown as a single path in FIG. 2 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 204 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 206. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 204 executesinstructions for a media application stored in memory (i.e., storage208). Specifically, control circuitry 204 may be instructed by arecording manager to perform the functions described above and below.For example, the recording manager may provide instructions to controlcircuitry 204 to generate the user interface displays. In someimplementations, any action performed by control circuitry 204 may bebased on instructions received from the recording manager. The recordingmanager may be a stand-alone application, a part of a guide, a part of amiddleware of the equipment device 200, or a part of the operatingsystem installed on the equipment device 200 (discussed in greaterdetail below).

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 204 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above-mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 3). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of recording devices, or communication ofrecording devices in locations remote from each other (described in moredetail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 208 thatis part of control circuitry 204. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 208 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage may also be used to supplement storage 208 or instead of storage208.

Control circuitry 204 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 204 may also include scalar circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of therecording 200. Circuitry 204 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the recording device to receive and to display,to play, or to record content. The tuning and encoding circuitry mayalso be used to receive guidance data. The circuitry described herein,including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding,encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may beimplemented using software running on one or more general purpose orspecialized processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handlesimultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions,picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). Ifstorage 208 is provided as a separate device from equipment device 200,the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may beassociated with storage 208.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 204 using user inputinterface 210. User input interface 210 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 212 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of equipmentdevice 200. For example, display 212 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 210may be integrated with or combined with display 212. Display 212 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 212 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 212 may be a 3D display, and the interactive userinterface and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. A video cardor graphics card may generate the output to the display 212. The videocard may offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3Dscenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry204. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 204.Speakers 214 may be provide as integrated with other elements ofequipment device 200 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 212 may be played throughspeakers 214. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers214.

The recording manager may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on equipment device 200. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage208), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 204 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 208 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 204 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 210. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 210 indicates that anup/down button was also selected.

In some embodiments, the recording manager is a client-server basedapplication. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onequipment device 200 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests to aserver remote to the equipment device 200. In one example of aclient-server based recording manager, control circuitry 204 runs a webbrowser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 204) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 200. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 200.Equipment device 200 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 210 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 200 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 210.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 200 for presentation to the user.

Equipment device 200 of FIG. 2 can be implemented in system 300 of FIG.3 as user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304,wireless user communication device 306, or any other type of recordingsuitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gaming machine.For simplicity, these devices may be referred to herein collectively asrecording or recording devices and may be substantially similar torecording devices described above. Recording devices, on which arecording manager may be implemented, may function as a standalonedevice or may be part of a network of devices. Various networkconfigurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in moredetail below.

A recording device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 2 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304, or awireless user communications device 306. For example, user televisionequipment 302 may, like some user computer equipment 304, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 304 may, like some television equipment 302, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The recordingmanager may have the same layout on various different types of recordingor may be tailored to the display capabilities of the recording. Forexample, on user computer equipment 304, the guidance application may beprovided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another example,the guidance application may be scaled down for wireless usercommunications device 306.

In system 300, there is typically more than one of each type ofrecording device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 3 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of recording device and also more than one of each type ofrecording device.

The recording devices may be coupled to communications network 314.Namely, user television equipment 302, user computer equipment 304, andwireless user communications device 306 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 314 via communications paths 308, 310, and 312, respectively.Communications network 314 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 308, 310, and 312 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 312 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3 it is awireless path and paths 308 and 310 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless, if desired).Communications with the recording devices may be provided by one or moreof these communications paths but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between recording devices,these devices may communicate directly with each other via communicationpaths, such as those described above in connection with paths 308, 310,and 312, as well as other short-range point-to-point communicationpaths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g.,Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or other short-rangecommunication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is a certificationmark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The recording devices may alsocommunicate with each other directly through an indirect path viacommunications network 314.

System 300 includes content source 316 and media guidance data source318 coupled to communications network 314 via communication paths 320and 322, respectively. Paths 320 and 322 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 308, 310,and 312. Communications with the content source 316 and media guidancesource data source 318 may be exchanged over one or more communicationspaths but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicatingthe drawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 316 and media guidance data source 318, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources is discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 316 and media guidance data source 318 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 316 and 318 withrecording devices 302, 304, and 306 are shown as through communicationsnetwork 314, in some embodiments, sources 316 and 318 may communicatedirectly with recording devices 302, 304, and 306 via communicationpaths (not shown) such as those described above in connection with paths308, 310, and 312.

Content source 316 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned byHome Box Office, Inc. Content sources 316 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content sources 316 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 316 may also include a remote media server user to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the recording devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content and providing remotely storedcontent to recording are discussed in greater detail in connection withEllis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 318 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the recording devices using any suitable approach. In someembodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-alone interactivetelevision program guide that receives program guide data via a datafeed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Program schedule dataand other guidance data may be provided to the recording on a televisionchannel sideband, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-banddigital signal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique.Program schedule data and other media guidance data may be provided torecording on multiple analog or digital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 318may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a recording device may pull media guidance data from a server,or a server may push media guidance data to a recording device. In someembodiments, a guidance application client residing on the user'sequipment may initiate sessions with source 318 to obtain guidance datawhen needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of date or when therecording device receives a request from the user to receive data. Mediaguidance may be provided to the recording with any suitable frequency(e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specified period of time, asystem-specified period of time, in response to a request fromrecording, etc.).

FIGS. 4A and 4B show illustrative examples of a display screen designthat may be presented in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. The recording manager implemented on equipment device 200may generate user input interfaces 210(A), 210(B) on display screens400, 450 as discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. The displayscreens shown in FIGS. 4A-4B may be implemented on any suitable userequipment device or platform. While the displays of FIGS. 4A-4B areillustrated as full-screen displays, they may also be fully or partiallyoverlaid over content being displayed. A user may indicate a desire toaccess content information by selecting a selectable option provided ina display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, ahyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button)on a remote control or other user input interface or device. In responseto the user's indication, the media guidance application may provide adisplay screen with media guidance data organized in one of severalways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, bysource, by content type, by category (e.g., movies, sports, news,children, or other categories of programming), or other predefined,user-defined, or organization criteria.

FIG. 4A shows an illustrative display screen 400 having user inputinterface 210(A) displayed thereon. Display screen 400 displays mediaguide data for the higher-priority asset (e.g., 2018 U.S. Open Men'sFinals match) including a content identifier 402 (e.g., U.S. Open), asource identifier 404 (e.g., channel ESPN), a program listing 406 (e.g.,2018 U.S. Open Finals (Men's)), and a scheduled broadcast time 408(e.g., 6:00 PM-9:00 PM ET). Display screen 400 may also include userinput interface 210(A) for receiving recording requests from users whowish to record linear programming (e.g., content that is scheduled to betransmitted to a plurality of user equipment devices at a predeterminedtime and is provided according to a schedule). As illustrated in FIG.4A, user input interface 210(A) provides a selectable button 410 torecord listed program 406. The user may also select a recording priority412 associated with the listed program 406 via user input interface210(A). For example, user input interface 210(A) may include aselectable high-priority option 414 and a selectable low-priority option416. The user may select either of the options using the button 418. Thedisplay screen 400 may also include a preview screen 420 for the listedprogram 406 in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the recordingmanager may retrieve the image displayed in the preview screen 420 asthe content associated with the listed program 406 to compare to thesample of the received transmission.

FIG. 4B shows another illustrative display screen 450 having user inputinterface 210(A) displayed thereon. Display screen 400 displays mediaguide data associated with the lower-priority asset (e.g., the footballmatch) that includes a content identifier 422 (e.g., NFL game), a sourceidentifier 424 (e.g., channel FOX), a program listing 426 (e.g., SanFrancisco 49ers vs. New York Giants), and a scheduled broadcast time 428(e.g., 8:00 PM-11:00 PM ET). Display screen 450 may also include userinput interface 210(A) for receiving recording requests from users whowish to record linear programming (e.g., content that is scheduled to betransmitted to a plurality of user equipment devices at a predeterminedtime and is provided according to a schedule). As illustrated in FIG.4B, user input interface 210(B) provides a selectable button 430 torecord listed program 426. The user may also select a recording priority432 associated with the listed program 426 via user input interface210(B). For example, user input interface 210(B) may include aselectable high-priority option 434 and a selectable low-priority option436. The user may select either of the options using the button 438. Thedisplay screen 450 may also include a preview screen 440 for the listedprogram 406 in some embodiments.

In the example scenario shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the recording manager,via user input interfaces 201(A) and 210(B), receives a firsthigher-priority recording request to record the U.S. Open Men's Finalsmatch and a second lower-priority recording request to record thefootball game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants,with both games scheduled for broadcast at the same time during the 8:00PM-9 PM ET time period. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Aperson possessing ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that thedisplay screens 400, 450 are for illustrative purposes only and that anynumber of systems and methods for graphically displaying the programlistings and user interfaces may be used.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a detailed illustrative process for resolvingrecording conflicts by a recording manager, implemented on controlcircuitry 204, when there are real-time changes to the scheduling oflinear media content, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. At step 510, the recording manager receives a first requestto record a first media asset scheduled for transmission at a firsttime. For example, recording device 101, via user input interface 210A,receives a first request to record the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match(i.e., first media asset). In another example, recording device 101, viauser input interface 210A, receives a first request to record an episodeof the television series “Game of Thrones.”

At step 520, the recording manager receives a second request to record asecond media asset scheduled for transmission at the first time. Forexample, recording device 101, via user input interface 210B, receives asecond request to record the football game between the San Francisco49ers and New York Giants (i.e., second media asset). At step 530, therecording manager, via a tuner of control circuitry 204, receives afirst transmission at the first time. In the example illustrated in FIG.4A, recording device 101 receives a first transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e.,time when recording conflict begins) with the transmission including thefirst media asset.

At step 540, the recording manager obtains a sample from the media assetincluded in the received first transmission. For example, recordingdevice 101 receives a first transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e., time whenrecording conflict begins) with the transmission including a media asset(on the source corresponding to the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match).Before making a recording of the transmission from ESPN, the recordingmanager obtains a sample of the media asset included in the broadcastfrom ESPN and received at a tuner of recording device 101. Additionalmethods and systems for obtaining a sample of the media asset includedin the received transmission are discussed in greater detail inconnection with FIGS. 7-14.

At step 550, the recording manager compares the obtained sample tocontent associated with the media asset scheduled for recording (e.g.,2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match) to determine whether to record thereceived transmission. Content associated with the media asset scheduledfor recording may include content (e.g., phrases, audio clips, and/orvideo frames) retrieved from the metadata (e.g., media guide data) forthe media asset scheduled for recording and/or content (phrases, audioclips, and/or video frames) retrieved from the additional media assetshaving metadata related to the metadata for the media asset scheduledfor recording. The recording manager may use media guide data (i.e.,content identifier 402 (e.g., U.S. Open Tournament), a source identifier404 (e.g., channel ESPN), a program listing 406 (e.g., 2018 U.S. OpenFinals (Men's)) associated with the higher-priority asset (i.e., 2018U.S. Open Finals match). In some embodiments, the recording managerimplemented on equipment device 200 may identify additional contentassociated with the higher-priority asset to perform the comparisonsdiscussed above. For example, the recording manager may identifyadditional tennis matches having program information related to theprogram information provided by ESPN to perform a more reliablecomparison with the sample of the received transmission.

Specifically, the recording manager may store, in a memory 208 ofequipment device 200, a database of additional media assets that weretransmitted before broadcast time 104, and their associated metadata.The recording manager may categorize the stored additional media assetsbased on their associated metadata (e.g., genres such as tennis,football, hockey, etc.). The recording manager, using metadata for thehigher-priority asset, identifies additional media assets havingmetadata related to the metadata for the higher-priority asset from thedatabase. For example, the recording manager, upon receivinghigher-priority recording request 102, and based on metadata (e.g.,program information) for the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match,identifies other tennis matches (i.e., previously stored additionalmedia assets) stored in the memory 208 having metadata (i.e., theirrespective program information) related to the metadata for thehigher-priority U.S. Open match.

In some embodiments, the recording manager may begin storing additionalmedia assets having metadata related to the metadata for thehigher-priority asset after receiving the request to record thehigher-priority asset but before receiving the first transmission. Therecording manager may, in response to receiving a request to record the2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals Tennis match, store additional media assetshaving metadata related to the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals Tennis match(e.g., additional broadcasts of media assets associated with the genretennis) prior to broadcast time 104. In some embodiments, the recordingmanager may store samples of the additional media assets having metadatarelated to the metadata for the higher-priority asset.

The recording manager, using metadata for the higher-priority asset,identifies additional media assets having metadata related to themetadata for the higher-priority asset. For example, the recordingmanager implemented on equipment device 200, upon receivinghigher-priority recording request 102, and based on metadata for theU.S. Open Finals match, identifies other tennis matches stored in memory208 having metadata (i.e., their respective program information) relatedto the metadata for the higher-priority U.S. Open match. As discussedabove, the recording manager determines whether the obtained sample fromthe received transmission matches content from the additional mediaassets having metadata related to metadata for the desired media asset.The recording manager determines whether the obtained sample from thereceived transmission matches retrieved samples from other tennismatches from the 2018 U.S. Open Tournament (i.e., content associatedwith the media asset scheduled for recording).

At step 560, when the sample of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission is determined, by the control circuitry 204, to matchcontent associated with the first media asset, the recording managerrecords the received transmission. The recording manager records thereceived transmission upon determining, using control circuitry 204,that the sample of the media asset included in the received transmissionmatches the program information for the U.S. Open Men's Finals matchand/or content from other tennis matches from the 2018 U.S. OpenTournament. When the sample of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission is determined to not match content associated with thefirst media asset at step 550, the process proceeds to step 570 and therecording manager records a second media asset instead of the receivedtransmission. That is, the recording manager records the football gamebetween the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants upondetermining, using control circuitry 204, that the sample of the mediaasset included in the received transmission does not match other tennismatches from the 2018 U.S. Open.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 5 could be performed by any otherdevices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 500 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a recording manageron user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 in order toplay back media.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 600 for resolvingrecording conflicts, by a recording manager implemented on equipmentdevice 200, via control circuitry 204, based on recording priority, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. At step 610, therecording manager receives a first request to record a first media assetscheduled for transmission at a first time. For example, recordingdevice 101, via user input interface 210A, receives a first request torecord the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match (i.e., first media asset).In another example, recording device 101, via user input interface 210A,receives a first request to record an episode of the television series“Game of Thrones.”

At step 620, the recording manager receives a second request to record asecond media asset scheduled for transmission at the first time. Forexample, recording device 101, via user input interface 210B, receives asecond request to record the football game between the San Francisco49ers and the New York Giants (i.e., second media asset). At step 630,the recording manager determines whether a higher recording priority hasbeen assigned to the first request. For example, the recording managermay determine whether the user, via user input interface 210A, selecteda higher recording priority 414 using the button 418 for recording the2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match. If at step 630, the system determinesthat the first request has a higher recording priority, the processproceeds to step 640. If at step 630, the system determines that thefirst request does not have a higher recording priority, the processproceeds to step 652 (discussed below).

At step 640, the recording manager receives a first transmission at thefirst time. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, recording device 101 receives afirst transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e., time when recording conflictbegins) with the transmission including a media asset (on the sourcecorresponding to the higher-priority recording of the 2018 U.S. OpenMen's Finals match). At step 660, the recording manager obtains a samplefrom the media asset included in the received first transmission. Forexample, recording device 101 receives a first transmission at 8:00 PM(i.e., time when recording conflict begins) with the transmissionincluding the first media asset. Before making a higher-priorityrecording of the transmission from ESPN, the recording manager obtains asample of the transmission from ESPN and received at a tuner of controlcircuitry 204. Additional methods and systems for obtaining a sample ofthe media asset included in the received transmission are discussed ingreater detail in connection with FIGS. 7-14.

At step 670, the recording manager compares the obtained sample tocontent associated with the media asset scheduled for recording (e.g.,2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match) to determine whether to record thereceived transmission. Control circuitry 204 determines whether theobtained sample matches content from the media guide data associatedwith the higher-priority asset. In some embodiments, recording device101 determines whether the obtained sample matches content from othertennis matches from the 2018 U.S. Open Tournament (i.e., contentassociated with the media asset scheduled for recording). Methods andsystems for identifying content associated with the higher-priorityasset are discussed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 7.

At step 680, when the sample of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission is determined, by the control circuitry 204, to matchcontent associated with the first media asset, the recording managerrecords the received transmission. The recording manager records thereceived transmission upon determining, using control circuitry 204,when the sample of the received transmission is determined to matchother tennis matches from the 2018 U.S. Open Tournament. When the sampleof the received transmission is determined to not match contentassociated with the first media asset at step 670, the process proceedsto step 690 and the recording manager records a lower-priority secondmedia asset instead of the received transmission. The recording managerrecords the lower-priority recording of the football game between theSan Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants upon determining, usingcontrol circuitry 204, when the sample of the media asset included inthe received transmission is determined to not match other tennismatches from the 2018 U.S. Open Tournament.

At step 652, the recording manager implemented on equipment device 200,via a tuner of control circuitry 204, receives a second transmission atthe first time. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 4B,recording device 101 receives a second transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e.,time when recording conflict begins) with the transmission including thefirst media asset (on the source corresponding to the football gamebetween the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants). At step 654,the recording manager obtains a sample from the media asset included inthe received second transmission. For instance, recording device 101receives a second transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e., time when recordingconflict begins) with the transmission including the second media asset.Before making a recording of the transmission from FOX, the recordingmanager obtains a sample of the transmission from FOX received at thetuner of recording device 101. Additional methods and systems forobtaining a sample of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission are discussed in greater detail in connection with FIGS.7-14.

At step 656, the recording manager compares the obtained sample tocontent associated with the media asset scheduled for recording (e.g.,football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants)to determine whether to record the received transmission. For example,recording device 101, using control circuitry 204, determines whetherthe obtained sample matches other football games (i.e., contentassociated with the media asset scheduled for recording).

When the sample of the received transmission is determined, by thecontrol circuitry 204, to match content associated with the second mediaasset at step 656, the recording manager records the received secondtransmission at step 690. The recording manager records the receivedtransmission upon determining, using control circuitry 204, that thesample of the received transmission is determined to match otherfootball games. When the sample of the media asset included in thereceived transmission is determined to not match content associated withthe second media asset at step 656, the process proceeds to step 690 andthe recording manager records the first media asset instead of thereceived second transmission. That is, the recording manager records thelower recording priority 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match upondetermining, using control circuitry 204, that the sample of the mediaasset included in the received transmission does not match otherfootball games.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 6 could be performed by any otherdevices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 600 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 600may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., process 500).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 700 for retrievingcontent associated with the higher-priority asset by the recordingmanager in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. At step702, the recording manager receives a request to record ahigher-priority asset scheduled for transmission at a first time. Forexample, the recording manager receives a request to record the 2018U.S. Open Men's Finals match scheduled for transmission from 6:00PM-9:00 PM ET. At step 704, the recording manager implemented onequipment device 200, via control circuitry, retrieves metadata for thehigher-priority asset. The recording manager extracts metadata (e.g.,media guide data) for the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match including agenre (i.e., Tennis) and program information (i.e., 2018 U.S. Open).

At step 706, the recording manager retrieves metadata for any additionalmedia assets previously stored in memory 208. For example, the recordingmanager may retrieve metadata for previously recorded media assets thatare stored in memory 208 of recording device 101. At step 708, therecording manager determines whether the retrieved metadata for theadditional media assets previously stored in the memory 208 are relatedto the extracted metadata for the higher-priority asset. The recordingmanager determines whether the retrieved metadata for previouslyrecorded media assets that are stored in memory 208 of recording device101 are related to the extracted metadata (e.g., media guide data) forthe 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match. If so, the process proceeds tostep 710 and the recording manager retrieves content associated with thehigher-priority asset from the additional media assets having metadatarelated to the higher-priority asset. That is, the recording manageridentifies previously recorded media assets stored in memory 208 thatmatch the genre (i.e., Tennis) or the program information (i.e., 2018U.S. Open) and extracts content associated with the 2018 U.S. Open Men'sFinals match.

If, at step 708, the recording manager determines that there are noadditional media assets stored in memory 208 having metadata related tothe extracted metadata for the higher-priority asset, the processproceeds to step 712. When the recording manager determines that thereare no previously recorded media assets stored in memory 208 ofrecording device 101 that have metadata relating to the metadata for the2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match, the recording manager records anyadditional media assets transmitted before the broadcast time 104 (i.e.,the first time) that has metadata (i.e., program information) related tothe metadata for the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match. That is, therecording manager records any other media assets having programinformation that matches the genre (Tennis) or the program information(2018 U.S. Open) of the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match and istransmitted before the first time.

At step 714, the recording manager retrieves content associated with thehigher-priority asset from the additional media assets having metadatarelated to the higher-priority asset. For example, the recording manageridentifies previously recorded media assets stored in memory 208 thatmatch the genre (i.e., Tennis) or the program information (i.e., 2018U.S. Open) and extracts content associated with the 2018 U.S. Open Men'sFinals match. As will be described below with reference to FIGS. 8-14,content associated with the higher-priority media asset may be phrases,audio clips, and/or video frames from the additional media assets havingmetadata related to the higher-priority asset.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 7 could be performed by any otherdevices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 700 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 700may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., processes 500 and 600).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 800 for obtaining aclosed caption sample from the received transmission, via controlcircuitry 204, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Atstep 802, the recording manager receives a transmission at the firsttime, the first transmission including a media asset. For example, atbroadcast time 104, recording device 101, via tuning circuitry ofcontrol circuitry 204, receives a transmission from ESPN. At step 804,the recording manager obtains a sample of the media asset included inthe received transmission. The recording manager obtains a sample of thetransmission from ESPN.

At step 806, the recording manager determines whether the obtainedsample is a closed caption component of the received transmission. Therecording manager, for instance, determines whether the obtained sampleof the transmission from ESPN is a closed caption component. When theobtained sample of the received transmission is determined to be aclosed caption component, the process proceeds to step 808. When theobtained sample of the received transmission is determined to not be aclosed caption component, the process proceeds to step 807 (discussedbelow in connection with FIG. 14).

At step 808, the recording manager extracts phrases from the closedcaption component. The recording manager may extract phrases such ascharacter names and/or locations from the closed caption component. Atstep 810, the recording manager retrieves phrases from the contentassociated with the higher-priority asset. As discussed above, contentassociated with the higher-priority asset may include content (e.g.,phrases, audio clips, and/or video frames) retrieved from the metadata(e.g., media guide data) for the higher-priority asset and/or content(phrases, audio clips, and/or video frames) retrieved from theadditional media assets having metadata related to the metadata for thehigher-priority asset. In some embodiments, the recording manager mayextract phrases such as character names, locations, and/ortennis-specific vocabulary from the tennis matches played during theearlier rounds of the 2018 U.S. Open. Similarly, in an instance wherethe higher-priority asset is an episode of “Game of Thrones,” therecording manager may extract phrases such as character names and/orlocations specific to the series “Game of Thrones” to compare theobtained closed caption component. A specific implementation of theprocess above is discussed in greater detail below in connection withFIGS. 9A and 9B.

At step 812, the recording manager compares the phrases extracted fromthe closed caption component to phrases retrieved from the programinformation of the first media asset and/or the additional media assetsto determine whether the sample of the media asset included in thereceived transmission matches the content associated with the firstmedia asset.

When the phrases extracted from the closed caption component aredetermined, by the control circuitry 204, to match content associatedwith the first media asset at step 812, the recording manager recordsthe received transmission corresponding to the first media asset at step814. For example, the recording manager records the receivedtransmission from ESPN upon determining that the sample of the mediaasset included in the received transmission matches the contentassociated with the first media asset. When the phrases extracted fromthe closed caption component are determined, by the control circuitry204, to not match content associated with the first media asset at step812, the recording manager records the lower-priority asset at step 816.The recording manager records the football game between the SanFrancisco 49ers and the New York Giants upon determining that the sampleof the media asset included in the received transmission does not matchthe content associated with the U.S. Open Men's Finals match.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 8 could be performed by any otherdevices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 800 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 800may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., processes 500, 600, and 700).

FIGS. 9A and 9B show illustrative examples of a data structure forcomparing the closed caption sample to content associated with the mediaasset scheduled for recording, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. Recording device 902 includes a memory 208 storing aplurality of data structures in database 904 storing phrases extractedfrom the media asset included in the received transmission and phrasesretrieved from the content associated with the first media asset. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, when the user makes a higher-priority request torecord the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match, the recording manageridentifies the first media asset as belonging to a series 906 of tennismatches. As discussed above in connection with step 810 of process 800,the recording manager retrieves phrases 908 from other tennis matches(i.e., content associated with the first media asset). As illustrated inthe example data structure of FIG. 9A, the recording manager retrievesphrases such as character names 912, locations 914, and series-specificvocabulary 916. For example, when the media asset scheduled forrecording is the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match, the retrievedphrases include character names 912 such as “Novak Djokovic,” “JuanMartin Del Potro,” “Rafael Nadal,” etc.; locations 914 such as “New YorkCity,” “U.S.A.,” and “Centre Court,” etc.; and series-specificvocabulary 916 such as “Grand Slam,” “Tennis,” “Finals,” etc. Inaddition, in the example data structure of FIG. 9A, the recordingmanager stores the extracted phrases from the closed caption component(as discussed above in connection with step 808 of process 800). Forexample, the extracted phrases from the closed caption component mayinclude character names 912 such as “Djokovic,” and “Del Potro,”;locations 914 such as “New York City,”; and series-specific vocabulary916 such as “U.S. Open,” “Tennis,” and “Finals,” indicating that thereceived transmission is the first media asset intended to be recorded.

In another illustrative example, when the user makes a higher-priorityrequest to record an episode of the series “Game of Thrones,” therecording manager identifies the first media asset as belonging to the“Game of Thrones” series 918. As discussed above in connection with step810 of process 800, the recording manager retrieves phrases 920 fromother episodes of “Game of Thrones” (i.e., content associated with thefirst media asset). As illustrated in the example data structure of FIG.9B, the recording manager retrieves phrases such as character names 924,locations 926, and series-specific vocabulary 928. The retrieved phrasesinclude, for example, character names 924 such as “Jon Snow,” “AryaStark,” “Tyrion Lannister,” etc.; locations 926 such as “Kings Landing,”“Winterfell,” and “The Wall,”; and series-specific vocabulary 916 suchas “White Walkers,” “Dragon,” “Sword,” etc. In addition, in the exampledata structure of FIG. 9B, the recording manager stores the extractedphrases from the closed caption component (as discussed above inconnection with step 808 of process 800). The extracted phrases from theclosed caption component include character names 924 such as “SelenaMyers,” locations 926 such as “White House,”; and series specificvocabulary 928 such as “Politics,” indicating that the receivedtransmission is not the first media asset intended to be recorded.

A person possessing ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theabove-discussed data structures in FIGS. 9A and 9B are provided forillustrative purposes only, and that any number of phrases extractedfrom the closed caption component of the media asset included in thereceived transmission may be compared to the phrases retrieved from thecontent associated with the first media asset.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 1000 for obtaining anaudio sample from the received transmission by the recording manager,implemented via control circuitry 204, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. At step 1002, the recording managerreceives the transmission at the first time, the first transmissionincluding a media asset. For example, at broadcast time 104, recordingdevice 101, via tuning circuitry of control circuitry 204, receives atransmission from ESPN. At step 1004, the recording manager obtains asample of the media asset included in the received transmission. Therecording manager, for example, obtains a sample of the media assetincluded in the transmission from ESPN.

At step 1006, the recording manager determines whether the obtainedsample is an audio component of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission. For instance, the recording manager determines whether theobtained sample of the transmission from ESPN is one or more audio clipsof the received transmission (i.e., audio component). When the obtainedsample of the received transmission is determined to be an audiocomponent, the process proceeds to step 1008. When the obtained sampleof the media asset included in the received transmission is determinedto not be an audio component, the process proceeds to step 1007(discussed below in connection with FIG. 14).

At step 1008, the recording manager extracts audio clips from the audiocomponent. The recording manager may, in some embodiments, extract audioclips to perform a vocal pitch comparison to determine whether the audioclips are spoken by the same characters. At step 1010, the recordingmanager retrieves audio clips from the content associated with thehigher-priority asset. As discussed above, content associated with thehigher-priority asset may include content (e.g., phrases, audio clips,and/or video frames) retrieved from the metadata (e.g., media guidedata) for the higher-priority asset and/or content (phrases, audioclips, and/or video frames) retrieved from the additional media assetshaving metadata related to the metadata for the higher-priority asset.For example, the recording manager may extract audio clips of thecommentators from the tennis matches played during the earlier rounds ofthe 2018 U.S. Open. Similarly, in an example where the program scheduledfor recording is an episode of “Game of Thrones,” the recording managermay extract audio clips of main characters of the series “Game ofThrones” to compare the obtained audio component.

At step 1012, the recording manager compares the audio clips extractedfrom the audio component to audio clips retrieved from the additionalmedia assets to determine whether the sample of the receivedtransmission matches the content associated with the first media asset.For example, the recording manager may identify a character name fromthe extracted audio clips and match the identified character name to alist of character names included in the audio clips retrieved from theadditional media assets.

When the audio clips extracted from the audio component are determined,by the control circuitry 204, to match the audio clips retrieved fromthe additional media assets at step 1012, the recording manager recordsthe received transmission corresponding to the first media asset at step1014. The recording manager, for example, records the receivedtransmission from ESPN upon determining, using control circuitry 204,that the sample of the received transmission matches the contentassociated with the first media asset. When the audio clips extractedfrom the audio component are determined to not match the audio clipsretrieved from the additional media assets at step 1012, the recordingmanager records the lower-priority asset at step 1016. For example, therecording manager records the football game between the San Francisco49ers and the New York Giants upon determining that the sample of thereceived transmission does not match the content associated with thefirst media asset.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 10 could be performed by anyother devices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 1000 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 1000may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., processes 500, 600, 700, and 800).

FIG. 11 is a graphical representation of a comparison of audio clips, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The recordingmanager compares the extracted audio clips from the audio componentsample of the media asset included in the received transmission with theretrieved audio clips from the additional media assets. The recordingmanager compares the extracted audio clips from the audio componentsample of the broadcast from ESPN with the retrieved audio clips fromadditional tennis matches from earlier rounds of the 2018 U.S. OpenMen's Finals match. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11,the recording manager performs a Fast Fourier Transform function on theaudio clips and runs a comparison between the two sets of audio clips.As shown in the graph of FIG. 11, the frequency of the extracted audioclip from the audio component sample is lower than the frequency of theaudio sample retrieved from the additional tennis matches. Therefore,the recording manager determines that the audio component sample of themedia asset included in the received transmission does not match theaudio sample retrieved from the content associated with the first mediaasset, and therefore records the second media asset instead.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 1200 for obtaining avideo sample from the received transmission by the recording manager,implemented on control circuitry 204, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. At step 1202, the recording managerreceives the transmission at the first time, the first transmissionincluding a media asset. At step 1204, the recording manager obtains asample of the media asset included in the received transmission. Therecording manager may, for example, recording device 101 receives atransmission from ESPN and obtains a sample of the transmission fromESPN.

At step 1206, the recording manager determines whether the obtainedsample is a video component of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission. The recording manager determines whether the obtainedsample of the media asset included in the transmission from ESPN is oneor more video frames of the received transmission (i.e., videocomponent). When the obtained sample of the received transmission isdetermined to be a video component, the process proceeds to step 1208.When the obtained sample of the received transmission is determined tonot be a video component, the process proceeds to step 1207 (discussedbelow in connection with FIG. 14).

At step 1208, the recording manager extracts video frames from the videocomponent. The recording manager may, for example, extract video framesfor facial recognition to identify any characters appearing in the videoframes. At step 1210, the recording manager retrieves content associatedwith the higher-priority asset. As discussed above, content associatedwith the higher-priority asset may include content (e.g., phrases, audioclips, and/or video frames) retrieved from the metadata (e.g., mediaguide data) for the higher-priority asset and/or content (phrases, audioclips, and/or video frames) retrieved from the additional media assetshaving metadata related to the metadata for the higher-priority asset.The recording manager may, for example, extract video frames includingfaces of specific players (e.g., the finals participants) from thetennis matches played during the earlier rounds of the 2018 U.S. Open.Similarly, in an example where the program scheduled for recording is anepisode of “Game of Thrones,” the recording manager may extract faces ofmain characters of the series “Game of Thrones” to compare the obtainedvideo component. A specific implementation of the process above isdiscussed in greater detail below in connection with FIGS. 13A and 13B.

At step 1212, the recording manager compares the video frames extractedfrom the video component to video frames retrieved from the additionalmedia assets to determine whether the sample of the media asset includedin the received transmission matches the content associated with thefirst media asset. For example, comparing the extracted audio clips fromthe audio component with the retrieved audio clips from the additionalmedia assets may include identifying a character name from the audioclips and matching the identified character name to a list of characternames included in the retrieved audio clips.

When the video frames extracted from the video component are determined,by the control circuitry 204, to match video frames retrieved from theadditional media assets at step 1212, the recording manager records thereceived transmission corresponding to the first media asset at step1214. For example, the recording manager records the receivedtransmission from ESPN upon determining that the sample of the mediaasset included in the received transmission matches the contentassociated with the first media asset. When the video frames extractedfrom the video component are determined to not match video framesretrieved from the additional media assets at step 1212, the recordingmanager records the lower-priority asset at step 1216. For example, therecording manager, implemented on equipment device 200, records thefootball game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giantsupon determining that the sample of the received transmission does notmatch the content associated with the first media asset.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 12 could be performed by anyother devices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 1200 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 1200may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., process 500, 600, 700, 800, and 1000).

FIGS. 13A and 13B show illustrative examples of a data structure forcomparing the video sample to content associated with the media assetscheduled for recording, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. Recording device 1302 includes a memory 208 storing aplurality of data structures in database 1304 comparing facialrecognition results extracted from the media asset included in thereceived transmission and facial recognition data retrieved from contentassociated with the first media asset. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 1, when the user makes a higher-priority request to record the 2018U.S. Open Men's Finals match, the recording manager identifies the firstmedia asset as belonging to a series 1310 of tennis matches. Asdiscussed above in connection with step 1210 of process 1200, therecording manager retrieves video frames from other tennis matches(i.e., content associated with the first media asset) to identify andstore facial recognition data 1312 relating to a number of athletes whohave appeared or are likely to appear in the 2018 U.S. Open Men'sFinals. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13A, the recording managerextracts facial recognition data for athletes such as Novak Djokovic,Juan Martin Del Potro, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal, among others.Finally, in the example data structure of FIG. 13A, the recordingmanager stores the facial recognition data extracted from the videoframes of the video component (as discussed above in connection withstep 1208 of process 1200). The extracted facial recognition data 1314from the video component may, for example, include Novak Djokovic andJuan Martin Del Potro, indicating that the received transmission is thefirst media asset intended to be recorded.

In another illustrative example, when the user makes a higher-priorityrequest to record an episode of the series “Game of Thrones,” therecording manager identifies the first media asset as belonging to the“Game of Thrones” series 1316. As discussed above in connection withstep 1210 of process 1200, the recording manager retrieves video framesfrom other episodes of “Game of Thrones” (i.e., content associated withthe first media asset) to identify and store facial recognition data1318 relating to a number of main characters who have appeared or arelikely to appear in the episode scheduled for recording. As illustratedin FIG. 13B, the recording manager extracts facial recognition data forcharacters such as Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, and Sophie Turner,among others. Finally, in the example data structure of FIG. 13B, therecording manager stores the facial recognition data extracted from thevideo frames of the video component (as discussed above in connectionwith step 1208 of process 1200). The extracted facial recognition data1320 from the video component includes Julia Louis Dreyfus, indicatingthat the received transmission is not the first media asset intended tobe recorded.

A person possessing ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theabove-discussed data structures in FIGS. 13A and 13B are provided forillustrative purposes only, and that any number of facial recognitiondata extracted from the video component of the media asset included inthe received transmission may be compared to the video frames retrievedfrom the content associated with the first media asset.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for obtaining a sampleof a media asset included in a received transmission, in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure. Specifically, when processes 800,1000, and 1200 determine at steps 807, 1007, and 1207, respectively,that the obtained sample from the media asset included in the receivedtransmission does not include a closed caption component, an audiocomponent, and/or a video component, the process moves to step 1402,when a second sample of the media asset included in the receivedtransmission is obtained. At step 1404, processes 800, 1000, and 1200are repeated for the second sample in order to determine that theintended media asset is recorded.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 14 could be performed by anyother devices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 1400 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 1400may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., process 500, 600, 700, 800, 1000, and1200).

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of another illustrative process for resolvingrecording conflicts by a recording manager, implemented on controlcircuitry 204, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Atstep 1510, the recording manager receives a first request to record afirst media asset scheduled for transmission at a first time. Forexample, recording device 101, via user input interface 210A, receives afirst request to record the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match (i.e.,first media asset).

At step 1520, the recording manager receives a second request to recorda second media asset scheduled for transmission at the first time. Forexample, recording device 101, via user input interface 210B, receives asecond request to record the football game between the San Francisco49ers and the New York Giants (i.e., second media asset). At step 1530,the recording manager via a tuner of control circuitry 204, receives afirst transmission at the first time. As illustrated in FIG. 4A,recording device 101 receives a first transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e.,time when recording conflict begins) with the transmission including thefirst media asset.

At step 1540, the recording manager obtains a sample from the mediaasset included in the received first transmission. For example,recording device 101 receives a first transmission at 8:00 PM (i.e.,time when recording conflict begins) with the transmission including amedia asset (on the source corresponding to the 2018 U.S. Open Men'sFinals match). Before making a recording of the transmission from ESPN,the recording manager obtains a sample of the media asset included inthe broadcast from ESPN and received at a tuner of recording device 101.Additional methods and systems for obtaining a sample of the receivedtransmission will be apparent to a person possessing ordinary skill inthe art as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 7-14.

At step 1550, the recording manager extracts keywords from the sample ofthe media asset included in the received transmission. For example,before making a recording of the transmission from ESPN, the recordingmanager extracts keywords from the sample of received transmission fromESPN. In some embodiments, the recording manager may use process 800discussed above to extract keywords from the obtained sample.

At step 1560, the recording manager, implemented on control circuitry204, compares the obtained sample to a predetermined set of keywordsindicative of a delay or cancellation to determine whether to record thereceived transmission. The recording manager determines whether theextracted keywords include phrases such as “delay” or “postponed” or“canceled” to determine whether to record the media asset included inthe first received transmission. Specific embodiments of the aboveprocess are discussed below in connected with FIG. 16.

When the sample of the received transmission is determined to match thepredetermined set of keywords indicative of delay or cancellation atstep 1560, the process proceeds to step 1570, and the recording managerrecords a second media asset instead of the received transmission. Therecording manager records the football game between the San Francisco49ers and the New York Giants upon determining when the sample of thereceived transmission is determined to match the predetermined set ofkeywords indicative of delay or cancellation. At step 1580, when thesample of the media asset included in the received transmission isdetermined, by the control circuitry 204, to not match the predeterminedset of keywords indicative of delay or cancellation, the recordingmanager records the received transmission corresponding to the firstmedia asset. For example, the recording manager records the receivedtransmission upon determining that the sample of the media assetincluded in the received transmission does not match the predeterminedset of keywords indicative of delay or cancellation.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the stepsdescribed above with reference to FIG. 15 could be performed by anyother devices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, process 1500 may beperformed by control circuitry 204 as instructed by a media guidanceapplication on user equipment 302, 304, 306, or recording device 101 inorder to play back media. In addition, one or more steps of process 1500may be incorporated into or combined with one or more steps of any otherprocess or embodiment (e.g., process 500, 600, 700, 800, 1000, 1200, and1400).

FIG. 16 is an illustrative example of a data structure for comparingphrases from a sample of the received transmission to keywordsindicative of delay or cancellation, in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure. Recording device 1602 includes a memory 208 storing aplurality of data structures in database 1604 storing phrases extractedfrom the media asset included in the received transmission andpredetermined phrases indicative of a delay or cancellation of thescheduled recording. As illustrated in FIG. 1, when the user makes ahigher-priority request to record the 2018 U.S. Open Men's Finals match,the recording manager identifies the first media asset as belonging to aseries 1606 of tennis matches. As discussed above in connection withprocess 1500, the recording manager stores a predetermined list ofkeywords and phrases 1608 indicative of a delay or cancellation of thescheduled recording. As illustrated in FIG. 16, the recording managerstores a list of predetermined words and phrases such as “cancel,”“delay,” “rain delay,” “emergency,” and “postponed,” among others.Finally, in the example data structure of FIG. 16, the recording managerstores phrases extracted from the obtained sample of the media assetincluded in the received transmission (as discussed above in connectionwith step 1560 of process 1500). The extracted phrases 1610 from theobtained sample include “rain stopped play” and “weather delay,”indicating that the received transmission is likely not the first mediaasset intended to be recorded.

A person possessing ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theabove-discussed data structures in FIG. 16 are provided for illustrativepurposes only, and that any number of methods (e.g., such as processes800, 1000, and 1200) may be used to determine whether the sample of themedia asset included in the received transmission includes an indicationthat the received transmission is not the first media asset intended tobe recorded. For example, the recording manager, implemented on controlcircuitry 204, may analyze video frames from a video component of themedia asset included in the received transmission to determine whetherthe video frames include an indication that the received transmission isnot the first media asset intended to be recorded.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims that follow. Furthermore, itshould be noted that the features and limitations described in any oneembodiment may be applied to any other embodiments herein, andflowcharts or examples relating to any one embodiment may be combinedwith any other embodiments in a suitable manner, done in differentorders, or done in parallel. Furthermore, it should be noted that whilea first step may be based on and/or in response to a second step, suchrelationship does not preclude additional steps occurring between thefirst and second steps. In addition, the systems and methods describedherein may be performed in real-time. It should also be noted thesystems and/or methods described above may be applied to or used inaccordance with other systems and/or methods.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of resolving recording conflicts, themethod comprising: receiving a first request to record a first mediaasset that is scheduled to be transmitted at a first time; receiving asecond request to record a second media asset that is scheduled to betransmitted at the first time; at the first time, receiving a firsttransmission, the first transmission including a media asset; obtaininga sample of the media asset included in the received first transmission;comparing the sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission with content associated with the first media asset todetermine whether the sample of the media asset included in the receivedfirst transmission matches the content associated with the first mediaasset; and in response to determining that the sample of the media assetincluded in the received first transmission does not match the contentassociated with the first media asset, recording the second media assetinstead of the media asset included in the first transmission.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining thatthe sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission matches the content associated with the first media asset,recording the media asset included in the first transmission.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether the firstrequest is assigned a higher recording priority than the second request;and responsive to determining that the first request is assigned ahigher recording priority, resolving a conflict between the first andsecond requests by not executing the second request unless the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission wasdetermined to not match the content associated with the first mediaasset.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying content associatedwith the first media asset comprises: retrieving metadata for the firstmedia asset; searching for additional media assets having metadatarelated to the metadata for the first media asset; and retrievingcontent associated with the first media asset from the additional mediaassets having metadata related to metadata for the first media asset. 5.The method of claim 4, wherein obtaining a sample of the media assetincluded in the received first transmission comprises one or more of thefollowing group consisting of: obtaining the sample from a closedcaption component of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission; obtaining the sample from an audio component of the mediaasset included in the received first transmission; and obtaining thesample from a video component of the media asset included in thereceived first transmission.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein comparingthe sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission with content associated with the first media asset todetermine whether the sample of the media asset included in the receivedfirst transmission matches the content associated with the first mediaasset comprises: extracting phrases from the closed caption component ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission; retrievingphrases from the additional media assets; and comparing the extractedphrases from the closed caption component with the retrieved phrases todetermine whether the sample of the media asset included in the receivedfirst transmission matches the content associated with the first mediaasset.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein comparing the sample of themedia asset included in the received first transmission with contentassociated with the first media asset to determine whether the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission matches thecontent associated with the first media asset comprises: extractingaudio clips from the audio component of the media asset included in thereceived first transmission; retrieving audio clips from the additionalmedia assets; and comparing the extracted audio clips from the audiocomponent with the retrieved audio clips from the additional mediaassets to determine whether the sample of the media asset included inthe received first transmission matches the content associated with thefirst media asset.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein comparing theextracted audio clips from the audio component with the retrieved audioclips from the additional media assets comprises: identifying acharacter name from the audio clip; and matching the identifiedcharacter name to a list of character names included in the retrievedaudio clips.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein comparing the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission with contentassociated with the first media asset to determine whether the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission matches thecontent associated with the first media asset comprises: extractingvideo frames from the video component of the media asset included in thereceived first transmission; retrieving video frames from the additionalmedia assets; and comparing the extracted video frames from the videocomponent with the retrieved video frames from the additional mediaasset to determine whether the sample of the media asset included in thereceived first transmission matches the content associated with thefirst media asset.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein comparing theextracted video frames from the video component with the retrieved videoframes from the additional media asset comprises performing a facialrecognition program to identify a character included in both theextracted video frames and the retrieved video frames.
 11. A method ofresolving recording conflicts, the method comprising: receiving a firstrequest to record a first media asset that is scheduled to betransmitted at a first time; receiving a second request to record asecond media asset that is scheduled to be transmitted at the firsttime; at the first time, receiving a first transmission, the firsttransmission including a media asset; obtaining a sample of the mediaasset included in the received first transmission; extracting keywordsfrom the sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission; comparing the extracted keywords from the sample of themedia asset included in the received first transmission with apredetermined set of keywords indicative of a delayed or canceledtransmission; in response to determining that the extracted keywordsfrom the sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission matches the predetermined set of keywords associated withthe first media asset, recording the second media asset instead of themedia asset included in the first transmission.
 12. A system ofresolving recording conflicts, the system comprising: tuning circuitryconfigured to: at a first time, receive a first transmission, the firsttransmission including a media asset; control circuitry configured to:receive a first request to record a first media asset that is scheduledto be transmitted at the first time; receive a second request to recorda second media asset that is scheduled to be transmitted at the firsttime; obtain a sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission; compare the sample of the media asset included in thereceived first transmission with content associated with the first mediaasset to determine whether the sample of the media asset included in thereceived first transmission matches the content associated with thefirst media asset; and in response to determining that the sample of themedia asset included in the received first transmission does not matchthe content associated with the first media asset, record the secondmedia asset instead of the media asset included in the firsttransmission.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitryis further configured to: in response to determining that the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission matches thecontent associated with the first media asset, record the media assetincluded in the first transmission.
 14. The system of claim 13, whereinthe control circuitry is further configured to: determine whether thefirst request is assigned a higher recording priority than the secondrequest; and responsive to determining that the first request isassigned a higher recording priority, resolve a conflict between thefirst and second requests by not executing the second request unless thesample of the media asset included in the received first transmissionwas determined to not match the content associated with the first mediaasset.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry, whenidentifying content associated with the first media asset, is furtherconfigured to: retrieve metadata for the first media asset; search foradditional media assets having metadata related to the metadata for thefirst media asset; and retrieve content associated with the first mediaasset from the additional media assets having metadata related tometadata for the first media asset.
 16. The system of claim 15, whereinthe control circuitry, when obtaining a sample of the media assetincluded in the received first transmission, is further configured to:obtain the sample from a closed caption component of the media assetincluded in the received first transmission; or obtain the sample froman audio component of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission; or obtain the sample from a video component of the mediaasset included in the received first transmission.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the control circuitry, when comparing the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission with contentassociated with the first media asset to determine whether the sample ofthe media asset included in the received first transmission matches thecontent associated with the first media asset, is further configured to:extract phrases from the closed caption component of the media assetincluded in the received first transmission; retrieve phrases from theadditional media assets; and compare the extracted phrases from theclosed caption component with the retrieved phrases to determine whetherthe sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission matches the content associated with the first media asset.18. The system of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry, whencomparing the sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission with content associated with the first media asset todetermine whether the sample of the media asset included in the receivedfirst transmission matches the content associated with the first mediaasset, is further configured to: extract audio clips from the audiocomponent of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission; retrieve audio clips from the additional media assets; andcompare the extracted audio clips from the audio component with theretrieved audio clips from the additional media assets to determinewhether the sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission matches the content associated with the first media asset.19. The system of claim 18, wherein the control circuitry, comparing theextracted audio clips from the audio component with the retrieved audioclips from the additional media assets, is further configured to:identify a character name from the audio clip; and match the identifiedcharacter name to a list of character names included in the retrievedaudio clips.
 20. The system of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry,when comparing the sample of the media asset included in the receivedfirst transmission with content associated with the first media asset todetermine whether the sample of the media asset included in the receivedfirst transmission matches the content associated with the first mediaasset, is further configured to: extract video frames from the videocomponent of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission; retrieve video frames from the additional media assets;and compare the extracted video frames from the video component with theretrieved video frames from the additional media asset to determinewhether the sample of the media asset included in the received firsttransmission matches the content associated with the first media asset.